The tai chi classics ( zh, c=太极拳谱, p=tàijíquán pǔ or zh, c=太極拳經, p=tàijíquán jīng, labels=no) are a collection of over 100 articles on the

Chinese martial art Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

written by the art's master practitioners over the centuries. They cover everything from the underlying '' taiji'' philosophical principles, to methods of practice and application. Previously passed down in secret from generation to generation in whole or in parts through various lineages, they achieved classical status as they became public starting in the mid-1930s. Together they now serve as the single authoritative guide for the development and usage of tai chi skills. Written mostly in

classical Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...

, they are used today mostly by the serious martial art practitioners of modern 6 Lineages that all trace their lineages to the ancient style taught by the Chen family and Yang family starting in the mid-19th century. While great antiquity is usually claimed for texts by legendary authors, modern scholarship has not been able to date any of them earlier than the late 19th century.

Writings accorded Classic status

#''Tai Chi Classic'' ( zh, c=太極拳經, p=Tàijíquán Jīng, labels=no) attributed to the legendary founder of tai chi, Zhang Sanfeng, claimed to be ca. 12th-14th century. #''Salt Shop Manual'' ( zh, c=鹽店譜, p=Yándiàn Pǔ, labels=no) containing the "Tai Chi Treatise" ( zh, c=太極拳論, p=Tàijíquán Lùn, labels=no) attributed to the legendary Wang Zongyue. The text was said to have been found stored in the back room of a

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

salt shop by

Wu Yuxiang Wu Yuxiang (Wu Yu-hsiang, 1812?–1880?) was a Chinese martial artist, teacher and the founder of Wu (Hao)-style tai chi. Wu was a scholar from a wealthy and influential family who became a senior student of Yang Luchan, the founder of Yang- ...

's brother Wu Chengqing. #Miscellaneous texts: ''Song of Thirteen Postures'', ''Mental Elucidation of the Practise of Tai Chi'' and the ''Song of Sparring'' handed down in the Yang and Wu families. #Texts by

, a central figure in Wu (Hao)-style tai chi, and his nephew Li Yiyu (; 1832–1892). #''Forty Chapters'' of writings, with the last three chapters directly attributed to Zhang Sanfeng, preserved in the Yang and Wu families. #''Tai Chi Illustrated'' () published in 1919 by Chen Xin (; 1849–1929) an important Chen family scholar. #''The Study of Tai Chi'' () first published in 1924 by

Sun Lutang Sun Lutang (1860-1933) was a master of Chinese ''neijia'' (internal) martial arts and was the progenitor of the Syncretism, syncretic art of Sun-style tai chi. He was also considered an accomplished Neo-Confucian and Taoist scholar (especiall ...

, the founder of his eponymous style of tai chi. #

Yang Chengfu Yang Chengfu (1883–1936) was one of the best known teachers of Yang-style tai chi Chinese martial art. He helped develop the art into its modern form. His students would go on to found successful martial arts schools of their own and helped s ...

(1883-1936) published his ''Complete Principles and Applications of Tai Chi'' in 1934, a work considered authoritative in schools influenced by his many students and progeny. The book includes the well known "Ten Essential Points of Tai Chi Theory" authored by Yang. # Wu Kung-tsao (Wu Gongzao; 1902–1983) provided original texts and commentary on the previously mentioned Forty Chapters in ''Wu Family T'ai Chi Ch'uan''. Wu's grandfather Wu Quanyou had inherited the Forty Chapters from Yang Banhou. The book was first published in

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

in 1935. In 1980, when the book was published again in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, the famous ''

wuxia ( , literally "martial arts and chivalry") is a genre of Chinese literature, Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fantasy literature, its popularity ha ...

'' author

Jin Yong Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), was a Hong Kong wuxia novelist and co-founder of '' Ming Pao.'' Cha authored 15 novels between 1955 and 1972 and became one of the most pop ...

contributed a postscript to Wu Kung-tsao's text in which Jin described influences from as far back as

Laozi Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzu #Name, among other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosopher and author of the ''Tao Te Ching'' (''Laozi''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the ''Zhuangzi (book) ...

and

Zhuang Zhou Zhuang Zhou (), commonly known as Zhuangzi (; ; literally "Master Zhuang"; also rendered in the Wade–Giles romanization as Chuang Tzu), was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States p ...

on contemporary

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

Collections, Translations, and Studies

*Liang, T.T., "T'ai Chi Ch'uan for Health and Self-Defense:Philosophy and Practice (New York: Vintage, 1977) *Lo, Benjamin; Inn, Martin; Amacker, Robert; Foe, Susan - "The Essence of T'ai Chi Ch'uan: The Literary Tradition" (Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1979 ) *Jou, Tsung-hwa, "The Tao of T'ai Chi Ch'uan" (Rutland: Tuttle, 1980) *Wile, Doug, "Tai Chi Touchstones: ''Yang Family Secret Transmissions''" (Sweet Ch'i Press 1983) *Wile, Doug, "Lost T'ai-chi Classics from the Late Ch'ing Dynasty" (Albany: SUNY, 1996) *Davis, Barbara, "The Taijiquan Classics: An Annotated Translation" (Berkeley: North Atlantic, 2004) *Xin, Chen, "The Illustrated Canon of Chen Family Taijiquan" (Xi'an: INBI Matrix, 2007) *Yun, Zhang; Ho, David, "The Taijiquan Classics: The Essential Translation and Explanation with Commentary on History and Culture" (Lulu, 2016 )

References

{{Martial arts Chinese martial arts Tai chi